News

This Sunday we begin our series on the Daniel story, Love Over Ego. When the story begins, Daniel is taken far away from his home to live in captivity in Babylon. But Daniel is given an opportunity to get special treatment and to move up the ladder. When we find ourselves in similar difficult circumstances it’s very easy to justify doing whatever we need to do in order to get ahead. But Daniel, instead, does not just go with the flow and take what’s given to him; he takes a stand for what the Lord teaches. Come on Sunday to hear what happens to him and to reflect on how we also can take a stand for what the Lord teaches.

God definitely wants us to be happy, but it doesn’t always feel like it. More often than not there seems to be a tension between what we want to do and what God asks us to do. The Lord understands that we go through this and so He draws our attention to the happiness that lies within keeping His commandments: “Happy are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” as just one example. Nor is this promised happiness only in the distant future. If we know what to look for, we can see in the moment how denying ourselves and following the Lord aligns perfectly with our own happiness.

A number of people online are discussing and writing articles about burnout at the moment, prompted by this article posted a few weeks ago. And so it seemed good to spend some time thinking about burnout from a New Church Christian perspective. What does the Lord teach about burning out and how can He help us to notice when we’re heading that direction and change course?

A number of people online are discussing and writing articles about burnout at the moment, prompted by this article posted a few weeks ago. And so it seemed good to spend some time thinking about burnout from a New Church Christian perspective. What does the Lord teach about burning out and how can He help us to notice when we’re heading that direction and change course?

The difference between payment and a gift is that we are entitled to payment for the work we have done, while a gift is freely given. So if the Lord freely forgives and saves us, why does it seem like we have to work so hard for it? What do we get credit for and what do we have to acknowledge is the Lord’s? If we can clearly see how the Lord freely gives us what we need to work with, we’ll be able to accept that gift in every situation through the choices we make.

The sermon for this Sunday is one by Coleman Glenn, our former Associate Pastor. The text is a dramatic vision that the prophet Ezekiel had of a valley full of dry bones that come back together, have sinew, flesh, and skin cover them again and ultimately turn into a huge group of living people. It’s a dramatic symbolic picture of how the Lord can take what’s dead within us and bring us back to spiritual life.

Here are a few notes about the worship services during the holidays, after Christmas:

• Sunday, 30 December – 9:30am
  • One talk for children and adults – no adult sermon or Godly Play.
  • No tea or eats after church.
• Sunday, 6 January – 9:30am
  • The service will be in the morning, even though normally the first Sunday of the month is an evening service.
  • One talk for children and adults – no adult sermon or Godly Play.
  • No tea or eats after church.
• Sunday, 13 January – 9:30am
  • Normal service with children’s talk and separate adult sermon and Godly Play for the children.
  • There will be tea and eats after church.

Joseph is not the most important or active person in the Christmas story and so it’s very easy for him to fade into the background of the story. But Joseph still had an important role to play and if he had not done what he was supposed to do then things could have ended very badly. This Sunday, let’s spend a bit of time thinking about Joseph and what we can learn from his role in the story about what is needed for the Lord to be born in our lives.

This Sunday, at 6pm, we will have our Christmas Tableaux. People in costume will make scenes of the Christmas story, while the story is read from the Bible. This year we decided to have all the people involved be adults so that as many children as possible can enjoy watching the tableaux.

Here are a few other notes about how things will go:

• There will be space on the floor in the front for any children/families who would like to sit there to watch the tableaux.
• Everyone will be invited to go up during the manger scene to see the baby Lord in the manger with the shepherds.
• Load shedding should not affect us. Even if Eskom has to escalate to Stage 4, the area we’re in should not be affected during the tableaux service.